Putting off on important appointments, like your hearing aid fitting, is all too easy amongst the hustle and bustle of daily events. You might even find yourself hesitating to order hearing aids altogether. But hearing loss affects more than only your ears and delaying treatment can have detrimental effects on your entire life.
The connection to cognitive decline
Scientists have proven a clear link between neglected hearing loss and cognitive decline. This underscores the crucial importance of not delaying treatment, as it can have adverse effects on your mental function too.
Hearing loss will get worse if it’s neglected
Obviously, it’s evident that delaying treatment for hearing loss isn’t helpful for preserving your auditory health. By avoiding appointments with a hearing specialist or delaying the purchase of hearing aids, you inadvertently subject your ears to further damage.
The development of your hearing loss will be quickened if you continuously need to crank up the volume on your devices. Hearing aids can increase particular frequencies of sound thereby delaying the progression of hearing loss.
The connection between neglected hearing loss and cognitive function
There’s a close connection between your sense of hearing and your brain. Mental function can be seriously impacted by neglected hearing loss according to some substantial research. Over time, cognitive decline can be exacerbated by depression and anxiety brought on by social separation.
Moreover, prolonged neglected hearing loss causes the brain to adapt by reallocating resources from auditory processing to other functions, such as visual processing, potentially complicating the recovery of normal hearing function later on.
Navigating neuroplasticity
In this scenario, neuroplasticity, which is the brain’s ability to adapt, can be both a friend and a foe. The brain will have a difficult time reverting back to its previous state after it rewires itself to accommodate for extended neglected hearing loss.
But it is possible to undo this effect. In both the short and the long term, using hearing aids can bring considerable benefits even if you’ve put off on getting treatment for some time.
Make an appointment with a hearing specialist
You should obviously find treatment as soon as you can, but even if you’ve put off for a while, it’s not too late to get help. If you’re ready to enjoy better hearing and stronger cognitive function, call us today for an assessment!